Although it's scheduled to launch on the same month as PSN-6, it's unlikely to be a big satellite as PSN - 6 it's own weigh 5000 kg so IF NROL 76 to be launched together, it would weighing a mere 1 ton. Though it's unlikely NRO launch their satellite with a commercial satellite (except cubesats).

*edit: i mean the maximum payload for Falcon 9 with a landing is about 6 tons. So if a satellite weigh 5 tons, it would give 1 ton margin, either way it would be expandable version of Falcon 9. Thanks

As I posted here two weeks ago, I think this flight could be "SpaceX Mission 1363" according to new nomenclature in FCC application.

Other FCC application with same requested period of operation says it includes LZ-1 booster landing - so probably LEO satellite. And NROL-76 is only one mission in closest SpX manifest (except CRS-11), which could be non GTO mission from 39a.

Y'know, I can't help but wonder how well the very different culture of SpaceX and the NRO 'spooks' will mesh. I have no doubt that SpaceX's people will be very professional but I can imagine that the NRO might be a bit wary of working with SpaceX's more transparent and public-facing culture when it comes to publicising their work.

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"Oops! I left the silly thing in reverse!" - Duck Dodgers

~*~*~*~

The Space Shuttle Program - 1981-2011

The time for words has passed; The time has come to put up or shut up!DON'T PROPAGANDISE, FLY!!!

Y'know, I can't help but wonder how well the very different culture of SpaceX and the NRO 'spooks' will mesh. I have no doubt that SpaceX's people will be very professional but I can imagine that the NRO might be a bit wary of working with SpaceX's more transparent and public-facing culture when it comes to publicising their work.

Well they are going to have to learn to adapt with organisations like the NRO if they want to make any inroads into government contracts long term.

I don't see much of an issue here. SpaceX don't discuss payloads and payload missions, they leave that to their customers (or just quote what I'm sure is customer approved material in launch briefing packs etc).

Launch dates are not secret and I don't see any publicity around the launch process being an issue. If SpaceX were required to keep things like precise spacecraft separation timing secret or not show camera shots of fairing separation etc then I'm sure they would.

I remember people complaining in the past when SpaceX ended their webcasts at SECO!

Y'know, I can't help but wonder how well the very different culture of SpaceX and the NRO 'spooks' will mesh. I have no doubt that SpaceX's people will be very professional but I can imagine that the NRO might be a bit wary of working with SpaceX's more transparent and public-facing culture when it comes to publicising their work.

Well they are going to have to learn to adapt with organisations like the NRO if they want to make any inroads into government contracts long term.

Since they have a backlog of a couple dozen government launches (extending through 2024), I think there's a reasonable chance they will be able to make some 'inroads'

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"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

Y'know, I can't help but wonder how well the very different culture of SpaceX and the NRO 'spooks' will mesh. I have no doubt that SpaceX's people will be very professional but I can imagine that the NRO might be a bit wary of working with SpaceX's more transparent and public-facing culture when it comes to publicising their work.

Well they are going to have to learn to adapt with organisations like the NRO if they want to make any inroads into government contracts long term.

Since they have a backlog of a couple dozen government launches (extending through 2024), I think there's a reasonable chance they will be able to make some 'inroads'

Y'know, I can't help but wonder how well the very different culture of SpaceX and the NRO 'spooks' will mesh. I have no doubt that SpaceX's people will be very professional but I can imagine that the NRO might be a bit wary of working with SpaceX's more transparent and public-facing culture when it comes to publicising their work.

Well they are going to have to learn to adapt with organisations like the NRO if they want to make any inroads into government contracts long term.

Since they have a backlog of a couple dozen government launches (extending through 2024), I think there's a reasonable chance they will be able to make some 'inroads'

Government in this case equaling the intelligence agencies of course.

The intelligence agencies will also likely adapt to the new realities of the launch market... and the a-sat threat. Their current battleship galactica approach to NRO platforms needs to drastically change if they want their assets to remain viable long term.

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"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

Y'know, I can't help but wonder how well the very different culture of SpaceX and the NRO 'spooks' will mesh. I have no doubt that SpaceX's people will be very professional but I can imagine that the NRO might be a bit wary of working with SpaceX's more transparent and public-facing culture when it comes to publicising their work.

Well they are going to have to learn to adapt with organisations like the NRO if they want to make any inroads into government contracts long term.

Since they have a backlog of a couple dozen government launches (extending through 2024), I think there's a reasonable chance they will be able to make some 'inroads'

Government in this case equaling the intelligence agencies of course.

The intelligence agencies will also likely adapt to the new realities of the launch market... and the a-sat threat. Their current battleship galactica approach to NRO platforms needs to drastically change if they want their assets to remain viable long term.

Yes because of course we can know what's the best approach in future for agencies and missions that are completely classified. Also for example payloads like the KH-11 are always going to be large because for the foreseeable future we can't circumvent the laws of physics that demands a certain size of lens for a certain level of resolution.

Strangely enough I imagine the NRO puts national security above market concerns in the things it has to consider.

It is not market concerns, it is market opportunities. There has been plenty discussion about dis-aggregating assets among the military planners. Many functions like certain types of optical intelligence gathering may continue to rely on large optics, but there are many (most) other gathering techniques that could be improved and hardened by flying a constellation of smaller sats. When that happens, the exact release timing or orbit of a given sat will become irrelevant.

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"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

Ostensibly it's speculation about what the payload could be and how the NRO and SpaceX are going to mesh, but it seems to be devolving into arguments with Jim.

In any event, we don't even know if this is an optical intelligence bird. It could very well be a series of smaller (iridium sized) satellites for LEO signal intelligence. We'll just have to wait and see.

As I posted here two weeks ago, I think this flight could be "SpaceX Mission 1363" according to new nomenclature in FCC application.

Other FCC application with same requested period of operation says it includes LZ-1 booster landing - so probably LEO satellite. And NROL-76 is only one mission in closest SpX manifest (except CRS-11), which could be non GTO mission from 39a.

IIRC, the NRO launch isn't a commercial launch. Ergo, no FCC applications and no FAA launch license for this mission. Frequencies for NSS missions, and launch authority, are ceded from other US Govt agencies.

The two NEMESIS SIGINT satellites (PAN & CLIO) were also launched through commercial purchased Atlas launches. Perhaps this one here is similar. But on the other hand PAN and CLIO did not have (known) NROL designators.